Combined clothesline and rack and awning frame



May 19, 1959 COMBINED 'CLOTHESLINE AND RACK AND AWNING FRAME Filed March2, 1956 MB w E W a.

United States Patent CONIBINED CLOTHESLINE AND RACK AND AWNING FRAMEGenoris R. Bybee, Fresno, Application March 2, 1956, Serial No. 569,150

1 Claim. (Cl. 211-87) This invention relates to a combined clotheslineand rack and awning frame, adapted to be detachably or permanentlysecured to the side of a trailer, house, ship, barge, house boat, orrelated structure.

In many instances, it is difficult to find available space surrounding astructure of the type referred to, which can be used for hangingclothes, and in fact in some instances no surrounding area, availablefor the erection of clothes poles and the like, exists. This is true,for example, on house boats, and may also be true with respect totrailers, etc. Under these circumstances, it is desirable to provide aclothesline and rack that can be mounted directly upon the side wall ofthe building struc ture.

Apart from the fact that surrounding space may not exist, usable for thedesired purpose, there is the further consideration that a resident of ahouse trailer, house boat, or the like may desire in any event to mounta clothesline support assembly directly upon the structure in which heresides, so that it can be taken with him, with the least possibledifliculty, whenever said structure is to be moved to a new location.

Still further, the clear desirability exists for a combinationclothesline and rack and awning frame, with the component parts of thecombination assembly cooperating to provide, upon the wall of a buildingstructure of the type described, not only a means for supporting a doorcanopy, window canopy or awning, or the like, but also means associateddirectly with the canopy support frame for supporting clotheslines.

An important object of the present invention is to provide a devicehaving the several desirable characteristics mentioned above.

More specific objects of the invention include the following:

First, to provide a combination structure as described which can besectionally constituted, so that a purchaser can buy any desired numberof sections, and can arrange of ruggedness, long life, and ease ofinstallation or removal.

()ther objects will appear from the following description, the claimappended thereto, and from the annexed drawing, in which like referencecharacters designate like parts throughout the several views, andwherein:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a house trailer equipped with acombination device formed according to the present invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of said trailer and combinationclothesline and rack and awning frame;

Figure 3 is an enlarged vertical section substantially on line 33 ofFigure 1;

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view on line 4-4 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a horizontal section substantially on line 5-5 of Figure 4;and

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the awning frame per se.

Designated generally by the reference numeral 10 is a house trailer, onwhich the device 12 constituting the present invention may be readilymounted. In this connection, as previously noted the device can bemounted upon any of various building structures, a house trailer beingshown purely by way of example. Further, the device is adapted to bemounted upon any form of house trailer, house boat, etc., includingthose of the more modern designs, since the construction of theinvention is such as to permit it to be mounted upon any of various wallsurfaces, as will be presently made apparent.

The combination device 12 is adapted to be manufactured in sections,with the purchaser being enabled to them upon the wall of the buildingstructure in any way desired;

Second, to provide a combination device as stated which will becharacterized by its ease of attachment to the building structure;

Third, to so design the structure as to permit it to be left upon thebuilding structure permanently, or alternatively, to be readilyremovable and capable of being stored in a relatively compact, foldedassembly for transportation or for any other period of nonuse;

Fourth, to provide a combination clothesline and rack and awning framewhich will be particularly strong, will be adapted to support asubstantial number of garments, as well as a canopy or awning covering,and will not interfere with normal use of the building structure onwhich the invention is mounted; and

Fifth, to provide a combination device of the type referred to which canbe manufactured at a very low cost, thus to increase measurably itscommercial feasibility, while still being possessed of the desiredcharacteristics buy any number of sections and to arrange them in anyway desired.

Each section will generally include a pair of stationary supportbrackets 14, each of which includes a plate flat in the presentinstance,but adapted if necessary to be curved to fit the conformation of thebuilding structure surface on which it is to be mounted. The supportplate 14a is disposed generally vertically, and is provided in thepresent instance with rectangularly spaced openings receiving lag screws16 or equivalent fastening elements, which can be extended into avertical rib, stud, or the like building wall. i n

.Integrally or otherwise fixedly secured to andprojecting outwardly fromthe support plate 14a isapocket member 18, having an inclined outer wall24d and vertical side walls 18a. Removably seated in the pocket memberis a wedge shaped head 20 formed upon the inner end of an elongatedsupport arm 22 which preferably is in clined out of the horizontal asshown in Figure 3, although said support arm can be disposed fullyhorizon tally if desired. The outer, inclined wall of the pocket throughthe exterior paneling or other outer finish of the member 18 has a slot24 opening upwardly to receive the inner end portion of the arm 22.

Formed in the arm 22, at selected locations along the length thereof,are upwardly opening bayonet slots 26, receiving the end portions ofclotheslines 28 said clotheslines being of any of various materials. Itwill be understood that the materials of the brackets, the support arms,and the clotheslines, can be varied as desired by the particularmanufacture, it being mainly important that materials possessing thenecessary requisites of strength, resistance to deterioration afterexposure to the elements, etc., be used.

As shown in Figure l, in a typical mounting sections are mounted uponthat side wall of the trailer opposite the side wall in which the door Dof the trailer is provided. Each section includes a pair of horizontallyspaced brackets, support arms extending outwardly from said brack t andone or more clothes-lines extending between E the arms. The brackets andarms can be spaced any desired distance apart, and it is even possibleto extend clotheslines between adjacent sections, as well as between theaims of a single section.

On the side of the trailer in which the door D is mounted, there isshown by way of example elongated clotheslines 30 extending between anawning frame generally designated at 12a, and support arms disposed atopposite sides of said awning frame. The awning or canopy frame isdisposed in the present instance over the door D, but also could bedisposed over windows W if desired. Further, clotheslines could beextended between adjacent awning frames if more than one awning frame isused.

The awning frame, as shown in Figure 6, is formed similarly to one ofthe sections, with the exception that the elements 30:: extendingbetween the arms 22a of the awning frame are rigidly constituted, andare bowed upwardly, to support an awning covering C.

The awning or canopy frame 12a includes brackets 14a secured fixedly tothe side wall of the trailer, above the door header, and formed withupwardly opening pocket members 13a of wedge-shape, removably receivingwedge shaped heads 20a rigid with the support arms 22a, the support armsextending through slots 24:! of the pocket members. Fixedly connectedbetween the arms 22a are connecting elements 30a on which the awningcovering is supported.

The versatility of the device will be readily apparent, since it will beseen that one can mount the several brackets 14 or 14a at any locationupon the periphery of the building structure, and can arrange the devicein sections of any desired length and number. Then, the connectingelements 28, 30, 30a are extending between spaced support arms, whethersaid support arms be on the canopy frame or be designed entirely forsupporting clotheslines, and clotheslines of any desired number orlength can be then provided, together with a canopy frame of a selectedsize, with the canopy frame discharging the function not only ofsupporting the canopy or awning covering, but also the function ofsupporting the clotheslines at one end thereof.

In the illustrated example, a demountable construction is shown, and itwill be apparent that to remove the structure, it is merely necessarythat the several arms 22 or 22a be lifted out of their associatedbrackets. The brackets are left upon the side wall of the buildingstructure, but the removed components can be packed away in a relativelycompact form for transportation or storage. In another type ofcommerical embodiment, it may be Cir sarily confined to the specific useor uses thereof described above, since it may be utilized for any.purpose to which it may be suited. Nor is the invention to benecessarily limited to the specific construction illustrated anddescribed, since such construction is only intended to be illustrativeof the principles, it being considered that the invention comprehendsany minor change in construction that may be permitted within the scopeof the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

In a clothesline rack, a pair of brackets each including a vertical,flat plate and an upwardly opening, wedgeshaped pocket member, eachpocket member being formed with side walls and with a front wall in aninclined plane converging with the plate member in a downward direction,said front wall having a narrow slot opening upon the top edge of thefront wall; support arms projecting forwardly from the respectivebrackets perpendicularly to the planes of the front walls through saidslots; heads of wedge shape formed in the respective support arms, eachhead being formed with a vertical back surface, side surfaces, and aninclined front wall in faceto-face contact with the plate, side Walls,and front wall respectively of the bracket, said arms being rigidlyconnected to the inclined front surfaces of the respective heads; andgarment support elements connected between the respective arms atlocations spaced longitudinally of the arms.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

